Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind

Chapter 23

Harry woke up with a sharp intake of breath. His eyes snapped wide open as he shot up into a sitting position. Shortly after, a wave of nausea hit him and he fell back down. Everything blurred in and out of focus, but he blinked several times, forcing his vision to slowly clear.

He was in the hospital wing, though he could have figured out that much simply from the feel of the bed. The ceiling overhead was quite familiar. He frowned, then looked left, and then right. The beds were empty, which he'd expected, but still...

What happened to Sirius?

Sirius had been with him when the dementors had attacked. If Harry had been discovered and been taken to the hospital, then surely Sirius had been found as well.

I guess Sirius wouldn't be in the hospital wing, since he's a wanted criminal. They didn't have him kissed, did they?

If Professor Lupin and the others had arrived in time to save him, then Sirius must have been saved as well. Professor Lupin didn't seem like the type who would let someone be kissed after they were already taken into custody. He hoped that meant Sirius was located in a hospital outside of Hogwarts–or at the very least, getting treated.

There's also Pettigrew...

Harry didn't care if Pettigrew lived or died. That said, he knew that Pettigrew needed to live if Sirius was to be acquitted. In that regard, at least, he hoped the rat hadn't been offed yet.

Madam Pomfrey wasn't in the hospital, which lead Harry to assume that she was speaking with Professor Dumbledore. He wondered how long it would be before they came in.

As if his words were prophetic, the door opened. Professor Dumbledore walked into the room alongside Madam Pomfrey and Madam Bones. Harry rose to greet them.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Professor Dumbledore greeted. "I am glad to see you're awake. You gave us all quite the scare."

"I apologize, Professor," Harry said softly, even as he turned to Madam Bones, who eyed him with a stern frown of disapproval. "Madam Bones, I'm sorry to have called you here. I have... information on Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew."

"I figured as much," Madam Bones admitted, her frown becoming even more prominent. "Tell me, how did you manage to break out of the veritaserum's effect?"

Harry shook his head. "I didn't. It's impossible to fight against the effects of veritaserum."

"Then how did you–"

"If I may, Madam Bones," Professor Dumbledore interrupted. "I do not believe Harry has the ability to fight off veritaserum. That would indeed make him quite powerful, but no one can do that. Rather, I think what Mr. Potter did was simply remove any memories pertaining to Sirius Black from his mind."

"Remove–" Madam Bones' eyes went wide, but then they narrowed. "–You mean he has a pensieve."

"That would be my guess," Professor Dumbledore admitted.

"The headmaster is correct." Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "I do have a pensieve. I knew that I would be questioned upon my return, so I bought a penseive to store my memories in before coming here."

Were the situation not so serious, the expression on Madam Bones' face would have been amusing. Given that the situation was dire indeed, Harry found no humor in it.

"May I ask why you decided to hide evidence from the aurors like that?" Madam Bones asked.

"Because the aurors method of questioning leaves no room for expanded information," Harry supplied. When he noticed the looks he was getting, he elaborated. "Aurors are only allowed to answer a specific set of questions when interrogating someone who is underage with viretaserum, thanks to the laws of humane conduct that were imposed during the early seventeen-hundreds. What's more, when under the effects of viretaserum, people cannot expand upon their answers, which limits the amount of information they can give. For example, if you had asked: Did you meet Sirius Black?"